HENRY COUNTY, GA- May 22, 2020—The Henry County Board of Commissioner approved a resolution authorizing staff to solicit engineering proposals for the Bethlehem Road Interchange in a 5 to 1 vote with District V Commissioner Bruce Homes in opposition. The action came at the May 19 Commission meeting.

Roque Romero, SPLOST Transportation Project Director, gave the presentation and reminded the Board and viewers that the new interchange on Interstate 75 south of State Route 155 was an approved county-wide SPLOST IV project. He said that a feasibility study and an interchange justification report has also been completed for the project.

“The next step for this project is to design the new interchange which will be located near Bethlehem Road,” said Romero.

Commissioners engaged in a lengthy discussion about the details of the project, timeline and bidding process. They voiced their concerns about the project and wanted to know if it was possible to break down the proposal into sections, and if there was going to be any involvement from GDOT and the Federal Highway Administration.

Romero listed the task order and explained the different phases of the project. He said the first phase consist of a survey, a concept and an environmental plan; the second phase consist of preliminary plans, right-of-way plans and final plans.

County Manager Cheri Hobson-Matthews reassured the Board that the next resolution that comes before them will identify individual tasks and the monetary amount for each task.

“Once phase one of the project is complete, GDOT and the Federal Highway Administration will be a part of the conversation,” said Matthews. “If we want to retain any federal dollars that may be allocated to the project, we have to do the design services as a professional service.”